Beautiful old Gitane *
 

Don't see many of these around this old.
Neat bike.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gitane-Super...item19e2781909

Very very nice ! My size but I'm short of the spending money.

Noticed that the seller has a smaller PX10 and Mercier too.

That one even has the full foil headtube. Buy it and be one of the only ones around.

Beautiful indeed!

She's a beauty! Enzo Mattioda would be happy!

Beautiful, but $1350 shipped and you have to consider the cost of a decent pair of tubulars. That's too much for my budget!

Agreed. His $1200 BIN is a bit high. If I could get the whole package to my front door for $900..... :p

This is a local (to me) seller, he called a couple of months ago about wanting to sell a couple of bikes, this one included.

I hadn't actually seen this bike until now, and it looks like a 1960's model, in my preferred size.
Anyone care to take a guess as to the year?

But I recently bought my own (blue) Super Corsa, and with no freed-up cash after my first home purchase, also still recovering from a broken wrist back in late April.

Alas, I may never see this one in person. I just love that color!


...But I can at least show the one I bought:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7287/8...49c6d6ee_z.jpg

I had an old Gitane for a while. Not that nice but it was a nice bike indeed.

I got a bit confused reading your post, dddd. This one...that one...which one? ;) He states in his auction it is a 1968 model. I think what makes it special is its relative rarity. According to Chas over on the CR list, he speculates there were less than 500 SC's imported at this time. And, this bike was pre-bike boom, when they put a little more into detail and quality construction.
I like the green too. I would like to have a green bike. Yours is a beauty. BTW, in my old Gitane catalog I believe they called that color Match Blue. Very nice.

Sorry for the confusion, I was only referring to my blue one in the last 3 sentences.

I understand that the earlier ones (than mine) had seatstay caps with the edges protruding, more hand-crafting involved.

The other rare SC's were the ones equipped with Campag brakes, so no cable hanger brazed to the seatstays.

Yes. According to the experts over on CR, they actually brazed on seat stay caps on the early ones, and later just bent the ends of the tubing over and brazed it shut, I guess. I've never seen one. Would love to own one but too rich for my blood. Have to be happy with my purple TdF for now.

By the way, what year is yours?

That eBay listing is a pretty nice bike though.

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Gitane-Super-...fQ+!~~60_1.JPG
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Gitane-Super-...HYoQ~~60_1.JPG

I can't let this thread sink into oblivion. Only one bidder so far, two offers. Lots of watchers. Anyone else, besides dddd own a Professionnal Super Corsa?

I've seen PX10s of the same vintage sell for more than $1200. No Campy on them.

I guess the distinctive black and white checkerboard decals and race history has a lot to do with it. But I doubt a PX is any better a bike than a Gitane SC. I suppose of the late sixties bikes they're equally cool and scarce.

I know Leica Lad has an SC, but we haven't much from him lately. Quite a few members who seem to be pretty scarce these days.

Hello dear friends. Yes, I have been off tending to family matters in middle USA. The upside of that was some weeks of early morning rides on my 1971 TdF that I pull out of deep storage out there.

Yes, I also have a "garage queen" '71 Super Corsa.

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o.../IMG_0525s.jpg

There's been a slightly smaller blue SC on the auction site that's been there for months (revolving listing) @ $650 with no nibbles. I think I paid $550 for my garage queen, and felt that I paid a premium (but was happy to do it!).

The green bike IS special. The question is only just HOW SPECIAL? I think it is overpriced, but Chas was correct that it is a "rare" factory bike from the pre-boom window.

All I can say for sure is that these early Gitane bikes (say mid-60s through about '73 or '74) are wonderful riders. Fast, responsive, but not too twitchy. It is why I have two.

Was there a question here?

:-)
Cheers!

This is that listing for the small blue SC:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GITANE-SUPER...item4d131ecc3c

I think that the crappy foil decals reduce the appeal of the pre-'74 Gitanes considerably. I do prefer the ride of my Gitane to that of my PX10.

I had one almost identical to that just a little older. I bought it in Germany in early 1960's. Sold it in 2004 for $1300. That is what got me into vintage bikes. It sat in the attic of my shed for a long time. I had the front shifter on the seat tube for several years. I ran a 48-54 and would up shift 100 yards from the line. I thought I was a sprinter
Ed

I've seen that Gitane on Ebay. If it was a larger bike it would have sold by now at $650.

How so, GB? Or maybe you've elaborated on it earlier.

By the by, I've never seen an SC, but do have a TdF. Was there a marked difference in the frames of the two models?

Speaking of seat stay caps, this thread led me to take a close look at the stay ends on my bike. 71 or 72 .
Sheesh. Awful looking.

The blue SC I showed is a 1972 according to the hub locknuts and according to the original owner (who bought and licensed it in early 1973 iir).

I traveled 150 miles (one way) out to San Jose to buy it after dark for what I thought was a very reasonable $450. I bought his wife's more lowly Libertas at the same time for another $100, and was able to get them to hold the Gitane (and stay up late) by offering to take both. The guy got several calls even during the time that I was at their house, since their Craigslist listing had a very good photo and description.

For the more complete history, either invite Chas to respond or go check his pieces in the archives of the GitaneUSA site. My knowledge is pretty complete for the '70-'73 window, but then I left the country.

During this window, there is very little difference between the frames, except for the drop-outs. Even the rear brake hanger-bridge was found present or absent on both. The TdF had Simplex, with a few Huret coming in late, while the SC had Campagnolo dropouts. In many cases, the fork column was cut short on the TdF because the Stronglight headset had a shallow stack height.

The seat stay caps on both of my bikes are utter crap.

But I love these bikes. I actually think my TdF runs more solid and true than does my SC, which is slightly more twitchy than the TdF. This is both subjective and rather subtle. But the TdF was my first. . .

I have a '73 Professional Super Corsa in mid restoration. It was complete and original when I bought it and had good chrome but rust had spidered all under the paint. It has been soda blasted the rust removed. Just need to get it painted. I have all the decals for it. Its too small for me and was intended as a project for sale on completion. It has the seat stay caps like the the green one on Ebay. Seeing that one motivates me to get mine finished. I like the graphics style.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-F...0/DSC00525.jpg